That moment had to be the mother of all stupid ideas. Late in the autumn of 1998, while sitting at the computer waiting for a friend to come online, I opened Notepad on a whim and typed out the first sketchy draft of a scene that would turn out to be one of the major events of ELOZE. At the time I had no idea who the two characters were, or why they were fighting each other; they sprang fully formed out of the ether, as it were, and it was left to me over the next few years to work out bit by bit what was going on.

This story has now been with me for nearly a decade, through some of the best - and worst - times of my life. I've both gained and lost friends from it. I have tried to give it up before, and even managed once to leave it alone for three years... but it's patient. Patient like a snake. It sits, fixes me with its unblinking gaze and waits quietly, expectantly, smugly, for me to come round and see things its way. I have now pretty much accepted that I'll have to finish ELOZE before I'm capable of doing anything else.

We've been through a lot of changes, ELOZE and I - including a complete rewrite which itself took over two years - since those early days when the first chapters of Prologue were posted on The Archives. Characters I threw in as bit-players at the time have turned out to be vitally important; likewise people I once thought were crucial have dwindled to nothing. I myself am continually surprised by the sharp turns ELOZE continues to take.

So here it is, ELOZE: Tale of Two Thousand Years. Hefty, unwieldy, creaking under the weight of its own history, sometimes lyrical and sometimes mad, it's the product of an obsessive mind, the Lord of the Rings of fanfic.

This version at North Castle includes an extensively rewritten version of The Shadowmaster, my first and only "normal" Legend of Zelda fanfic. Of course it also speaks of Dark Link. In a sense, it's the prequel to ELOZE and should be read as such. You may have seen it before; the original was posted on The Archives in 1999, and also on FanFiction.Net, and also here and on a number of other Legend of Zelda fan sites.

-Dark

Synopsis: Link and Zelda begin their epic quest with a journey into the west in
search of the legendary Spirit Temple. A chance encounter leads them to make new
friends and allies among the Gerudo people. But not everybody bears them goodwill.
Before the adventure is over, the two Hylians must survive not only the malice of
the desert, but an evil that has followed them from their own land.

Synopsis: Joined by Sofia and the sinister Dark, the heroes head for
Kokiri Forest and the rumoured site of an ancient temple. In the sacred meadow
they meet the mysterious Greenfinger and with his help pass into the temple where
they must face and defeat evil spirits before they claim their first amulet. The
companions' first lesson is that it's never wise to judge by outward appearance,
for a monstrous face may hide a hero's heart.

Synopsis: Old habits die hard. Dark is having a tough time adapting
to city life, and when a haunting reminder of his former identity appears, the
quest hangs in the balance. The ancient shadow must vanquish an inner demon of
his own before he can deliver Link from the spell of the Sword of Tears.

Synopsis: There's trouble in Kakariko... again. The village that stands
in the very shadow of Death Mountain is prone to being plagued by monsters, but
as winter draws nigh the problems are getting worse and worse. When the companions
investigate, they quickly find themselves in deep trouble - and it gets deeper
still when Sepultura and her henchmen confront them for the first time.

Synopsis: All of Hyrule Town is buzzing with excitement about the
upcoming Yule celebrations, but one person isn't so happy. As more and more
of Link First's memories return to him, Dark begins to wonder who he really is.
And when he and Galdenor meet face-to-face for the first time, the shadow is
forced to consider the unthinkable...

Synopsis: On a bleak January day, Galdenor sets off on the long
journey back to Gaelaidh, and Link and the others accompany him part-way. Their
own destination is the lakeside town of Mido, where they hope to uncover
clues as to the location of the third amulet. But they're not the only ones to
have had that idea. Kleox, it turns out, is far from dead, and he wants that
amulet for himself.

Synopsis: The cryptic message on Japas's tomb sends the Knights on an
epic voyage - eight hundred miles across the Hyrulian ocean in search of the
enigmatic Zoran people. Before they can restore the broken amulet, they must
face all the hazards of the open ocean, including the most legendary sailor's
yarn of all: the Isle of the Wind Fish.

Synopsis: There's only one possible place where the Shadow Amulet could
be, and it's bad news. Reluctantly, the Knights head down into the
Underworld, a lightless realm of death where even Ganon feared to venture far. Disaster
strikes almost at once - lost and scattered, the heroes find themselves adrift in the
fiefdom of the powerful Wizzrobe lord, Carock. But Link, Zelda and Sofia now face a
greater foe... for in one black moment, everything is changed, and their alliance
shattered forever.

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